


The One

by starkind



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Iron Man 3, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Introspection, M/M, One Shot, POV Second Person, Post-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-13 01:37:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5689570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkind/pseuds/starkind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if things had been different, back then, in Switzerland?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a line from Taylor Swift's 'Blank Space' song (apparently... I had to google, tbh) as well as some other quote/tweet I came across the net. No copyright infringement intended; all I wanted was a fic with both sentences in it.

“You look like my next mistake.”

Those are the very first words between the two of you - right there, at a Y2K party somewhere in Bern, Switzerland. You are drunk since 4 pm or earlier; at least since you have most successfully warbled your way through a lecture on integrated circuits earlier on at this science conference. Some said it was unintelligible, some said it was impressive - you tend to believe the latter as well, far too indifferent to care otherwise.

You are attractive, genius, and rich as fuck... and the majority of people is stupid beyond belief anyhow. No wonder you best tolerate them from 0.15 BAC onward. Happy is just accompanying Maya to the bar to get you another drink, and you are glad for some quiet moments to check out all the blurry faces around. The evening is far too young and too unspectacular to end it alone, and you are still undecided whom to spend it with.

That is when you see him.

Tall, lanky, and oh-so pale; with dark hair and eyes that reveal his true skittish nature, even though he tries hard not let his insecurities show. He is hardly older than 25, probably younger, and your 30-year-old-self goes crazy with lewd debauching scenarios. Your bisexuality is no secret these days, not even overseas. Together with your level of inebriation, the words slip from your tongue on their own accord.  
  
You earn yourself a bland, if a bit indignant look at the verbal crudity while you are fascinated by his set of high-cut cheekbones. It figures you either massively overstepped the mark, or have given him an introduction to a world he has never considered, until now. The bass-laden chorus of Jennifer Lopez' 'Waiting for tonight' booms through the vast location, and you cannot help but smirk at the lyrics.  
  
Baby boy still has not said anything and continues to glower at you. He pushes his hands into the pockets of his expensive-looking, billowy suit. Just then, Happy returns with Maya in tow. They shove a glass of champagne into your hand and tell you it is five minutes before midnight. You give a glimpse-and-shrug combo at the failed conquest du nuit, and let yourself be pushed outside on the patio, because, well, fireworks.  
  
Once you have warded off a dork with glasses and get to see Maya's latest invention (among other things), you forget all about that brief encounter.

* * *

A decade passes with tremendous changes in your life.  
  
You are now burdened with a new purpose and blessed with a new team by your side. Either reveal the fact that you are not as volatile and self-obsessed as you always tried to make everybody believe (including yourself). Call it coming of age, but you have also been convinced that Steve Rogers is the one person on earth that is worth staying committed to. You are lucky in love, at last. Took you long enough.  
  
Despite that, it still kind of catches you off guard to see _him_ there, at the annual SI fireman's charity ball in New York, one night in August.  
  
Your ex-PA (and ex-lover), but current CEO and favorite woman of all time, Pepper Potts, is floating through the auditorium, looking marvelous in her dark emerald dress. She welcomes the man you have a surprisingly good memory of, even though he has definitely changed a lot over the years. The skittishness is gone completely and has given way to a set of broad shoulders inside a sharp looking suit, and keen eyes.

By now, you know his name, just like he knows yours.  
The tiniest tug plays around the corner of his mouth as he catches your stare.  
Both of you then glimpse over to where Steve stands, looking spiffy and good enough to eat in his military uniform.

Even at the distance, you can see how things fall into place on his face in less than a few seconds. Just before he leaves for the reporter waiting for him at the bar, he slows his stride as he walks past, making you unconsciously swallow around your single malt. Your drinking has gone down considerably ever since becoming an Avenger, but you are glad for the buzz right there and then.

The smile he gives plays on his lips but not in his eyes as he sizes you up, only to arch an eyebrow upward.  
His arm brushes ever so slightly against yours in the crowded space of the event location.  
Despite the commotion all around, the words he speaks are crystal clear to your ears.  
  
“You'll always be my favorite what if.”

 


End file.
